The idea when defending Oklahoma City midrange maestro Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – a guy who inflicts most of his damage off the dribble, from 15 feet in – is to make him play in a crowd. And that is the exact phraseology opposing coaches use, in strategy sessions with their teams and pregame confabs with media dweebs: Make him play in a crowd.
In other words, show him bodies. Make him navigate more traffic than a motorist on an LA freeway. Deny him access to his favorite spots. And if you knock the slender guard around some in the process, so be it.
For the first half of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night in OKC, the Minnesota Timberwolves executed that strategy to perfection. In limiting SGA to 11 points on 2-for-13 shooting, they ganged up on him, again and again. They sicced Jaden McDaniels, their best perimeter defender, on him, but his teammates were forever lurking, forever poised to offer help.
That was best illustrated during a second-quarter stretch that saw McDaniels and center Rudy Gobert smother Gilgeous-Alexander on the wing, forcing an ugly miss; McDaniels materializing out of nowhere to swat SGA’s layup attempt, after it appeared he had been beaten; and Minnesota star Anthony Edwards drawing a foul for standing over his Thunder counterpart after he had been knocked to the deck, not allowing him to regain his feet.
But this has been a special season for Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder, one in which it appears nothing will stop them from making their appointed rounds. He led the league in scoring (32.7) and is the presumptive MVP, despite another remarkable season on the part of Denver center Nikola Jokic. And the Thunder, who stormed their way to 68 regular-season victories, are blessed with talent, depth, youth and will.
So it should come as little surprise that after that rough first half, SGA awakened, scoring 20 of his 31 points on 8-for-14 shooting to erase a 48-44 halftime deficit and lead his team to a comfortable 114-88 victory. Particularly notable were two three-point plays on which he was knocked off balance by McDaniels on drives but nonetheless coaxed the ball through the rim.
Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t the only reason the Thunder prevailed. Chet Holmgren, the wiry center, notched 13 of his 15 points after the break, and their formidable defense – Alex Caruso in particular – arose to stifle Minnesota’s Julius Randle, who was limited to eight points in the closing 24 minutes after a 20-point first half. The Thunder also dipped into their seemingly bottomless bench to cover for the absence of big man Isaiah Hartenstein, who appeared to have injured himself early in the second half.
But ultimately this was about SGA SGA-ing. While everybody else in the league is bent on firing from deep, he does his best work in the lane. He averaged 5.7 3-point attempts this season, the most he’s ever put up in his seven NBA seasons but a total that pales in comparison to that of a sniper like Stephen Curry, who tried 11.2 a game. (More illustrative is Gilgeous-Alexander’s career norm of 3.7; Steph is at 9.3.)
Simply put, SGA is gonna get where he wants to go. In that way he is reminiscent of Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, of whom Dick Barnett, the recently deceased New York Knick, once said the following: “If you give him a 12-foot shot, he’ll work on you until he’s got a 10-foot shot. Give him 10, he wants eight. Give him eight, he wants six. Give him six, he wants four. Give him four, he wants two. Give him two, you know what he wants? That’s right, baby. A layup.”
The difference between the two of them is that while the Big O excavated a defense with this size and strength, the 6-6, 200-pound Gilgeous-Alexander (he looks smaller) slithers to his spots, finding crevices that might not be readily apparent to a lesser player.
So when it comes right down to it, he is quite comfortable playing in a crowd. In fact, he stands out from it, rises above it. He’s been doing it all year, as has his team. The biggest tests still lie ahead, but it’s hard to believe OKC, like its best player, is not going to get where it wants to go.